7/29/11

Steve Matz:7-29-11: - Matz was transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day version after reporting that he felt soreness. Baseball America wrote: The Mets' top pick in the ’09 draft (second round), Steve Matz has yet to throw a pitch as a professional. He had Tommy John surgery in ’10 and suffered elbow soreness this year, necessitating a shift to the 60-day disabled list. Matt Harvey:7-29-11: - minorleaguebaseball. - Binghamton's Matt Harvey still doesn't have a victory six starts into his first Double-A career, but he took something else home Thursday night. Harvey struck out 10 and allowed four hits over seven strong innings, but gave up a game-tying run in the Mets' eventual 2-1 defeat in 14 frames to the host Harrisburg Senators. The 22-year-old right-hander -- New York's No. 3 prospect -- struggled to control the running game. The Harvey-Kai Gronauer battery allowed three stolen bases, and the the last was the most significant: Derek Norris walked on four pitches, swiped second base and scored three batters later on Chris Rahl's liner into left, tying the score, 1-1.Zack Wheeler:11-28-11: - http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2011/index.jsp - Scouting report: The Giants' first-round pick in 2009 is was a Futures Gamer in 2010, his first full season. He features a heavy fastball that he can run into the mid-90s with a vastly improved breaking ball and a changeup that has developed well this year. He's a much better pitcher after an up-and-down first full year that was interrupted by a fingernail problem, though he's still working on refining his command. Still, at age 21 and in the California League, he's ahead of the curve.Jeurys Famila:7-26-11: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/7/26/2287253/mets-mid-term-farm-system-review-2011-binghamton#storyjump - RHP Jeurys Familia - STOCK UP - I'm not one to toot my own horn...but beep beep. Me, Jan. 17: 'I for one am still looking for that big-time breakout campaign from Familia, just a year later than we all expected.' And so it shall come to pass. After a 2010 that saw his ERA more than double -- from 2.69 in '09 up to 5.58 in '10 -- Familia fulfilled the promise that kept him among the organization's top 5 pitchers in the pre-season rankings. He has translated increasing fastball velocity -- now in the mid to upper 90's -- and a sharpened change into exceptional results. He quickly dispatched FSL hitters, posting a 1.49 ERA and a .171 average against before being promoted after just six starts. He continued to roll initially but began to see that Double-A hitters wouldn't chase and worse, when behind they could catch a good fastball (see: seven hrs allowed). But despite finding Double-A a bit trickier, Familia still maintained a K/9 above 10 and a .239 average against. He has struggled over the past month with a mysterious injury that the club seemed happy enough to label a lack of energy. Yet it recently landed him on the DL in the form of a shoulder impingement. Regardless, he has emerged to challenge Harvey and Mejia as the organization's top minor league pitcher. OPS:OPS – “On-Base Percentage Plus Slugging Percentage”. One of the most popular sabermetrics statistics in use today as well as one of the simplest, OPS combines two of the best metrics in determining a hitter’s value to his team. On-Base Percentage (OBP) is the ability of a player to get on base and Slugging Percentage (SLG) is the ability of a player to hit for power. As a point of reference, .728 was the average OPS for MLB in 2010. In his essay titled, “The 96 Families of Hitters” - http://baseballreflections.com/2011/07/28/sabermetrics-101-gaining-the-fantasy-baseball-edge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sabermetrics-101-gaining-the-fantasy-baseball-edge